A former New Jersey corrections officer was arrested today for orchestrating two different fraud schemes, including a cryptocurrency scheme that resulted in losses of more than $600,000, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.
John DeSalvo, 47, of Marmora, New Jersey, is charged by criminal complaint with two counts of wire fraud, two counts of securities fraud, and two counts of money laundering related to the two fraud schemes. He is scheduled to appear this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge André M. Espinosa in Newark federal court.
“This defendant, a former New Jersey corrections officer, is alleged to have committed two brazen investment fraud schemes in which he falsely promised huge returns to obtain hundreds of thousands of dollars from unsuspecting investors,” U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. “In one scheme, DeSalvo is alleged to have targeted law enforcement and first responders to invest in a digital token that he falsely claimed was SEC-approved and listed on cryptocurrency exchanges. In the other, he is alleged to have obtained investments by…